England Says “It’s Coming Home” After Eliminating Colombia in Dramatic Penalty Shootout
Colombia did not have a remarkable performance. Indeed, England dominated the center of the park all game long with five men in the midfield. However, the South Americans had one more hope in their hearts and Mina made the whole country go crazy in the 93rd minute to send the game into extra time.
Harry Kane opened the scoring in the 57th minute from the penalty spot after Carlos Sánchez fouled him. Kane scored his sixth goal of the tournament and at that moment the match was in total control for England.
Mina’s Heroics
However, even though Colombia seemed lost, they had one more opportunity before the end of the regulation via Mina’s head.
It was Mina’s third goal of the tournament. The Barcelona defender scored the only way possible for the Colombians, who suffered the absence of their best players James Rodríguez due to an injury.
In the extra time, both teams dominated at different times. Colombia tried to take advantage of the psychological punch they inflicted on England early on. But the Three Lions resisted and almost went up 2-1 in the second extra time but Danny Rose’s shot refused to go beyond the goal line in the 112th minute.
Penalty Shootout
For the first time in history, Colombia faced a penalty shootout in a World Cup tournament.
On the other side, England had the worst penalty shootout record in World Cup history, having lost all three of their previous ones (1990, 1998, and 2006). Moreover, they also had lost their last three penalty shootouts at the Euro competitions, in the 1996 semi-finals as well as the in the quarterfinals at the 2004 and 2012 tournaments. Somehow, they managed to win this one.
Shootout Scorers
Colombia (3): Radamel Falcao, Juan Cuadrado, Luis Muriel
England (4): Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Kieran Trippier, Eric Dier
Strategic Match
James Rodríguez’s absence was the worst nightmare for Colombia as England head coach Gareth Southgate lined up five men in the midfield to take advantage of that. That strategy rapidly took effect as Juan Fernando Quintero committed far too many errors in the midfield. Quintero was the main playmaker for Colombia but he could not do much with Ashley Young, Jordan Henderson, Kieran Trippier and Harry Maguire harassing him.
It was evident for Colombia that they needed Rodriguez, who’s been suffering from a lingering calf issue since the recently ended European season In the group stage finale against Senegal, he left the pitch in the 31st minute due to the same problem.
Nevertheless, the Cafeteros defensive side was the best of them. Colombia’s center back pair Yerry Mina and Davidson Sánchez kept the England attack at bay from the beginning of the match and they certainly were the best players on their side.
Kane didn’t have much of an impact because the Colombian defenders made the Tottenham striker feel uncomfortable all game long.
While England reaches the final eight of the tournament for the first time in 12 years, Colombia has still failed to make the quarterfinals in consecutive World Cups.
Up Next
England will face Sweden in the Quarter-finals on July 7, at Cosmos Arena, Samara, at 10 a.m. EST.
